Illusion For The Moment
by WinterSky101
Summary: Winn and Brainy wake up on a mysterious desert planet that nullifies technology. It's not the best of situations.
1. Chapter 1

**The first part of this fic was originally posted on my writing blog in response to a prompt. Tumblr users mavannasellish and cyclone-rachel both requested a part two, which ended up being fairly long. This is the first half of the continuation. The second half will be posted next Friday.**

 **Title comes from this Orson Welles quote: "We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone."**

* * *

Winn wakes with a groan, rubbing the back of his head as he sits up. There's a familiar figure a few feet away, bent over a small rock formation and poking at it.

"Brainy?"

Brainy turns. "Ah, Winslow. You're awake."

"What's going on?" Winn asks, wobbling a little as he stands. "How did we get here?"

"Unknown," Brainy replies. "I've been attempting to determine that since I awoke."

Winn slowly turns in a circle, taking in his surroundings. It looks almost like it could be a desert on Earth, except for the fact there are two suns above them, hovering in an indigo sky.

"Um, where _is_ here?"

"I'm still collating," Brainy says. "This planet does not match any that I have visited. However, unless we have been displaced in time as well as space, we are still in your era instead of mine, so planets may be different now than they will be in a millennium."

"Huh," Winn says. He considers that for a moment, then he bends down, scoops up a handful of dirt, and puts it in his pocket.

Brainy stares at him, confusion clear on his face. "What are you doing?"

Winn shrugs. "Hey, alien dirt from an unknown planet is still alien dirt."

"Ah, yes," Brainy says, a scornful edge to his voice. "Your… dirt collection."

"Don't knock it 'til you've tried it."

Brainy stares at him again, then shakes his head and goes back to examining the rock.

"Is that thing gonna help us get out of here?" Winn asks, only half teasing.

"It may help us determine where we are," Brainy replies. "As for leaving this planet, that may prove more difficult. There seems to be some sort of disturbance in the atmosphere that affects technology. I have been unable to communicate with anyone with my flight ring or activate any of its other features. I may be able to figure out a way to work around the atmospheric disturbances if I can find more supplies."

"No tech works here?" Winn asks. He pulls out his phone and tries to turn it on, but it stubbornly remains off. Brainy's weird little handheld computer thing - he calls it an omnicom, Winn thinks - is in its pocket, and honestly, Winn should have known that something was wrong when he saw that Brainy wasn't holding it as he examined the rock. The three lights on Brainy's belt aren't glowing.

"Unfortunately, no," Brainy replies. "But as I said, I may be able to circumvent that problem."

"Wait, but aren't you half robot?" Winn demands. Are the weird implants in Brainy's forehead glowing as much as they normally do? Winn can't tell.

Brainy scowls. "I am Coluan," he retorts. "My people are half computer, half organic."

"Yeah, yeah, same difference," Winn dismisses. "Point is, if no tech works, does that mean you're gonna shut down on me?"

An expression that almost looks like surprise flits across Brainy's face. Did he think Winn wouldn't be able to put the pieces together? It's not _that_ hard, even for someone who's not the twelfth-level intellect that Brainy always brags about being.

"My technological half is very sophisticated," Brainy says after a moment. "It is still somewhat functional, although it is not performing at optimal levels. And my organic half is able to compensate. I am… impaired by the atmospheric disturbances, but I will not, as you put it, shut down."

"Oh." Being "impaired" doesn't sound great, and "somewhat functional" isn't a particularly glowing description, but it does sound like Brainy is okay overall. "Good."

Brainy finally leaves the rock alone, straightening. "It would be a good idea for us to find shelter. And we will require water and sustenance."

"Any idea which way to go for all that?" Winn asks.

"No direction seems superior to the others for any reason that I can discern."

Winn nods, then he closes his eyes and spins around. When he stops, he opens his eyes and points. "Let's go this way."

Brainy is staring at him like Winn started speaking in tongues. "You're determining our direction by… spinning?"

"You said no direction seemed better than any others," Winn replies. "Do you have a better way to pick one?"

Brainy makes a face, but he doesn't reply. If he _did_ have a better way, Winn knows he'd be bragging about it right now, so it seems he doesn't. Winn grins smugly. "Thought so. Come on. This way."

He starts walking. Behind him, he hears Brainy sigh, and then he hears footsteps begin to trudge after him. Winn's grin widens.

He's trapped on an unknown, tech-nullifying planet with a guy who's half robot and always seems like Winn is annoying him just by existing. What could go wrong?

* * *

In Querl's time, there are people who call Coluans cyborgs. It's considered by many to be an offensive term. Personally, Querl's main issue with it has never been that people use it to hurt him - he's a Dox, people say things to hurt him all the time and he's gotten used to it - but instead that it's completely inaccurate. A cyborg is a creature that is born organic and later given mechanical and technological augmentations. There hasn't been a fully-organic baby born on Colu in centuries.

In the past, Coluans were considered experts when it came to genetic manipulation. It's a genetic mutation, carefully curated through the years, that has given the Dox family their twelfth-level intelligence. It's also genetic manipulation that allows Coluans to have a lifespan of approximately half a millennium. But after a while, they reached a point where they had perfected Coluan genetics as much as was possible. Any other species would have given up there, but the Coluans didn't. The Coluans introduced technology.

The organic-technical interface that a Coluan body has is much more sophisticated than that of a cyborg. That's part of the reason why Coluans find it so insulting to be called cyborgs, when cyborgs are so decidedly inferior to their own design. A Coluan is born with their technology already embedded in their body, and it will stay that way for the rest of their life.

This raises a bit of problem for Querl at the moment.

Because of the interface between his organic and technological halves, Querl is still mostly functioning. His organic half is able to keep his technological half running, if not at its optimum levels. However, Querl knows it won't be able to keep working forever. Sooner or later, his technological half is going to begin to fail. The less important functions will go first, and then, if they don't get off this planet, his more integral systems will fail. If enough of those go…

Querl told Winn he wouldn't shut down on him, as Winn put it, but if they stay on this planet for too long, that might prove itself to be a lie.

"So," Winn says. Querl looks over at him. They've been walking silently so far, but apparently no longer. "The whole half computer thing. How does that work?"

"Instead of being solely organic like humans are, Coluan bodies have technological aspects to them," Querl says.

"When do you get them?" Winn asks. "Like, is this something that happens when you're a kid, or…"

"You misunderstand. Coluans are born like this."

"You're _born_ like that?" Winn demands. "So you're born with technology already inside you? How does that work?"

"Centuries of genetic manipulation and quite a few prenatal procedures."

"Okay," Winn says, looking like he's warming up to the topic now, "but we fought this other Coluan a few years ago, Indigo. She was, like, _way_ more robotic than you. How does that work?"

"Coluans can have additional technological implants added to their bodies after their birth," Querl says. After a moment of hesitation, he gestures at the implants in his forehead. "I gave myself these implants when I was a child."

"You _gave yourself_ -" Winn gapes at him. Querl waits for him to actually say something of substance. "How did you _give yourself technological implants_ as a _kid_?"

"It was not a simple procedure," Querl replies. "But if you are picturing Coluan children like human children, you are mistaken. Coluan children mature intellectually much more quickly. And as a twelfth-level intellect-"

"Let me guess, you were even faster," Winn finishes. He peers at Querl's forehead and frowns a little. "You know, Indigo had lights in her forehead too. Three of them in a triangle, kinda like yours, except they were red. Her implants looked more like your belt, actually."

"I'm not surprised," Querl replies. "This is the symbol of the Brainiac clan."

Winn stares at him. "Wait, you're saying that you and Indigo are _related_?"

"Distantly."

Winn stares at him for a while longer. It's strangely familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Querl is used to being judged based on his more evil family members, but most people already know who he is when they meet. He's not used to people finding out partway into an acquaintance.

"So Indigo chose to be more robotic, then?" Winn asks.

Querl blinks. Perhaps his predictive matrix has already begun to fail, because that wasn't what he was expecting Winn to say. "You aren't uncomfortable about my relationship to Indigo?"

"Dude, my dad was a terrorist super villain," Winn replies with a shrug. "I'm not gonna judge you because your distant relative was a terrorist super villain too."

Of course, Winn doesn't know about the rest of Querl's family. If he knew about the first Brainiac, he might feel differently. If he knew the full, bloody truth of the Brainiac lineage…

Then again, Winn has been very good at surprising Querl so far, so maybe he'd surprise him here too.

* * *

"Is that a cave?"

Brainy looks up, following Winn's gaze. "It appears to be one, yes."

"Awesome," Winn cheers. "About time we found some sort of shelter."

Brainy frowns a little. "It is not unlikely that this cave is already being used as a shelter by some other creature."

Winn makes a face. "Can you do a life form scan or something?"

"Not without a functioning omnicom."

Winn groans. "So we're just going to have to sneak up to the cave and hope we don't get eaten?"

Brainy shoots him a somewhat derisive look. "There are quite a few ways that we can check for inhabitants without getting close enough to worry about being eaten. We can check for animal prints, or check for remains of food, or check for water in the area, or-"

"Okay, I get it," Winn interrupts. "Can we just go do that so we can get some rest? I'm exhausted. Deserts are the worst." He glares up at the sky. "Especially with two suns. Isn't one sun enough?"

Brainy looks up at the sky as well. "With two yellow suns, it is possible that a Kryptonian like Supergirl or Superman would be more powerful than they are on Earth."

"Cool, but that doesn't help _us_ ," Winn retorts.

Brainy shoots Winn a dirty look, then looks down at the ground. "I don't see any animal prints."

"Neither do I," Winn replies. "And I don't see water anywhere near here. An animal wouldn't make a shelter where there wasn't water nearby, would they?"

"Assuming the creature required water to survive, no," Brainy replies. "But not all species do."

"Do you need water?" Winn asks curiously. He doesn't know much about Coluans, but what he _does_ know is pretty interesting.

"Yes, but not as much as humans," Brainy replies. "Although I may require more while we're here. Normally, my technological half is able to compensate for some of the needs of my organic half, but that's impossible with the atmospheric disturbances here."

"Your tech half is still working though, right?" Winn asks. He really doesn't want Brainy to shut down on him.

"It is still functioning adequately," Brainy replies. "I believe some abilities will begin to shut down soon, but the least important ones will be the first to go."

"Cool," Winn replies. He's too tired to think about that too much. "Can we go in the cave now, or do you want to keep checking?"

"I've seen no signs of animal life here," Brainy says. "It seems to me that the next step is to check the cave itself."

"Finally," Winn sighs, going to the mouth of the cave and stepping in. It's small, barely big enough for two people to lie down without touching, but it's unoccupied and sheltered from the suns.

"No one in here!" Winn calls.

"Good," Brainy says, stepping inside. He looks around. "It's not very big."

"It's got enough space for the two of us," Winn replies. "I mean, it's not ideal, but I think we can manage sleeping close to each other for one night."

Brainy makes a face. Winn has the feeling that he's not fond of sharing his space. "Very well," he says, although he doesn't sound happy about it. "Do you wish to sleep now, then?"

"Sounds good to me," Winn replies, shrugging off his jacket to use as a pillow. "Do you want to sleep closer to the entrance or farther away?"

"Whichever you do not prefer," Brainy replies.

"Cool," Winn says, balling up his jacket and curling up as close to the back wall as he can get. "Night, Brainy."

Brainy lies down on his back and rests his hands on his stomach. He looks incredibly stiff, but his eyes are closed and he does actually seem to be asleep. Winn has no idea how he managed to fall asleep so fast. It must be a half-robot thing.

Even though Winn is exhausted, he's not half-robot, so it takes him much longer to actually fall asleep. He just keeps _thinking_ , wondering about how exactly he and Brainy ended up on this random desert planet, and why they're the only two people who popped up here. Who could do this? Why? Is something happening back on Earth with the DEO, something they need his help with? How long until the others find him and come to get him?

Winn huffs and wiggles a little on the ground, trying to get into the most comfortable position he can manage. No positions are _that_ comfortable, but some are less uncomfortable than others. When he finally wiggles his way into the best one, he closes his eyes, tells his brain to shut up, and actually manages to fall asleep.

* * *

When Querl wakes Winn, the first words out of Winn's mouth are, "Your forehead lights aren't glowing."

Querl is very aware of this. He knew his implants would be the first things to fail, as they're the least essential. That doesn't make it any less annoying that they're not working. They help him to keep his twelve thought tracks under control, and without them, his thoughts keep spiraling and getting lost amongst themselves.

"Brainy?" Winn asks, sounding a little concerned, and Querl realizes he hasn't replied to him.

"It's alright," he says. "I can survive without the implants."

"You sure?"

"Their failure is irritating, but not serious. I'll be fine."

Querl has clearly grown too dependent on the implants if their loss is impairing him this much. He can hardly _think_ , except that isn't the real problem, the real problem is that he's thinking too much. If anyone else accused him of thinking too much, he'd say there was no such thing, but with his mind whirring at top speed and snatching at any flitting thoughts that drift through his mind, he thinks he might be mistaken. There _is_ such a thing as thinking too much, and it's this.

"Brainy?" Winn says, sounding alarmed now. Querl has the feeling this isn't the first time Winn has said his name. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Querl wrestles his thoughts back into line the best he can. "The loss of the implants makes it difficult for me to think straight. But their loss will cause me no physical harm."

"Are you going to be able to figure out the work-around that you talked about yesterday?" Winn asks. "The thing with the Legion ring?"

 _It's most likely that the atmosphere here is emitting some sort of frequency that is interfering with their technology, so if he can figure out that frequency, he can work around it. The ring may require a power boost, depending on how far away-_

"Brainy?" Winn demands, grabbing Querl's arms.

Querl twists out of the grip. "I can figure out how to get the ring working again," he says. "We should get moving."

One of his thought tracks has dedicated itself to figuring out how long he has until more essential functions begin to fail. It's not particularly uplifting, especially if he's unable to get access to food or water. If his organic half begins to suffer from the lack of sustenance, its ability to keep his technological half afloat will suffer as well.

"Ugh, I'm so thirsty," Winn whines as he ties his jacket around his waist. "We need to find water."

"If we find a settlement, they're likely to have water or know where to find it," Querl replies. Although, given what they've seen of the planet so far, it wouldn't be inconceivable to think that the dominant species here might not rely on water to survive as much as either humans or Coluans. In that case, it's possible that finding civilization won't help them find water. And if that happens-

"Should we get moving?" Winn asks.

"Yes," Querl says, standing and starting out of the cave. "Shall we continue in the same direction that we were walking in yesterday?"

"Unless you think going another way is better," Winn says, shading his eyes with one hand. "I mean, everything looks the same to me, but…"

Querl scans their surroundings and tries to compare the different possible routes, but immediately his brain crowds itself with far too many thoughts for even him to keep straight. "None of the routes seem superior to the others," he tells Winn, doing his best to shut down the wild thought processes that just erupted in his brain. His mind feels like an exploding star. He's grown far too reliant on the implants. It's been years since he's had to think without them, and now his very mind is crippled by their loss.

"Okay," Winn says, eyeing Querl nervously. "Then let's go."

Winn starts walking, and Querl trudges after him. He hopes Winn doesn't feel the need to add conversation to their trek. He's struggling to remember to keep walking and not just stop and think. There's no way he'll be able to keep up with a conversation.

Winn seems to understand that, because he keeps his mouth shut, although he keeps looking over at Querl with concern on his face. Querl ignores him the best he can, which means he shoves any Winn-related observations into a corner of his mind so only one of his thought tracks fixates on them. It's not perfect, but nothing about this situation could be classified as "perfect."

It's manageable. Querl has been through worse. He can manage this.

* * *

"Is that water?" Winn asks, pointing.

Brainy blinks. It seems to take him a few moments to realize that Winn spoke, and then another few moments to understand what the words meant. It's almost scarily slow for Brainy, who normally seems to think so much faster than anyone else. Then again, Winn's not sure that he's not _still_ thinking fast. Brainy said that not having the implants makes it hard for him to think straight, and he's seemed distracted since they woke up this morning. Winn's heard him muttering to himself a few times, and when he's caught snatches of it, it's science that, Winn has to admit, goes way over his head. He doesn't think Brainy's _not_ thinking. Instead, it's almost like he's thinking too much to focus on anything outside his own head.

"Perhaps," Brainy finally says. "Although it could be a mirage."

"It's on our way," Winn says. "Should we check it out?"

"It won't do any harm."

Winn starts heading towards the water, glancing behind him to make sure that Brainy's following. Brainy's paused a few times in their walking and required a bit of coaxing to get moving again. Winn's trying to be hopeful that it won't happen again, but he's not going to let his guard down.

"It really looks like water," Winn says, daring to hope a little. "I mean, it could still be a mirage, but…"

"Hmm," Brainy hums noncommittally. Winn's not sure how much he's listening.

When they finally reach the water, Winn kneels in front of the little pond and dips his hand in. The water is lukewarm, but it feels like regular water, and he's thirsty enough that he's willing to give it a try. "This is real water, right?" he asks Brainy first, just in case. "It's not going to kill us if we drink it?"

Brainy is on his knees, staring at the water blankly. Finally, he looks over at Winn. "I believe it is normal water, but I don't have any way of performing a thorough check at the moment."

"Then I guess I'll just drink it and hope," Winn says, cupping his hands together and filling them with water. He brings his cupped hands to his lips and takes a sip.

The water tastes normal, and nothing happens to Winn after he drinks it. That doesn't mean that nothing _will_ happen, of course, but he's hopeful.

"It seems okay," he tells Brainy, sipping again. The water is warm and he thinks there's a bit of sand in it, but given that he hasn't had anything to drink for a day, it's more than good enough.

Brainy lowers his hands to the water and cups them together. He brings them up to his lips, but he seems to be struggling a bit.

"Whoa, your hands are shaking a lot," Winn says worriedly.

Brainy blinks and looks down at his hands as if he didn't even notice. "Coluans have neurological and muscular implants that aid in keeping our hands steady and perfecting our fine motor skills. Mine seem to have failed."

 _Will you still be able to do the work-around with the Legion ring?_ Winn thinks, but he doesn't say it aloud. Brainy is already staring down at his hands with what looks like fear in his eyes. Winn's not going to freak him out even more.

"You should drink," Winn says instead. "Coluans still need water, right?"

"Yes," Brainy says, slowly lowering his hands back into the water. He looks like he's concentrating very hard, and as Winn watches, the tremors in his hands die down a bit. His hands aren't _still_ , but Brainy can drink the water much more easily.

Winn drinks as much water as he can hold, ignoring the hunger pains that start up again with a vengeance as he drinks, then he sits crosslegged on the ground with a frown. "We don't have any way to carry water."

Brainy winces a little and raises one hand to his temple. Before Winn can ask if he's alright, he says, "Do you see any evidence of civilization nearby? If water is uncommon here, as it appears to be, it would make sense that civilizations would arise near water sources."

Winn stands, shades his eyes with one hand, and looks around. If he squints, he thinks he might be able to see something off in one direction, but it's too far away to be sure.

"Maybe," he says. "Come here and look at this."

Brainy slowly gets to his feet and steps up next to Winn. "That way," Winn says, pointing. "Does that look like a town?"

Brainy's eyes narrow. "Perhaps."

"I guess we should probably head that way, then," Winn says. "We don't have anywhere better to go."

"I agree," Brainy replies. "Shall we, then?"

"Let's go," Winn says, starting to walk. Brainy follows.

Winn really, _really_ hopes this is actually a town. He's not sure how much longer either of them can last here on their own.

* * *

"Hey, Brainy?"

Querl blinks, tries to clear his mind enough to concentrate on a conversation, and looks over at Winn. "Yes?"

"Why did you join the Legion?"

Querl frowns. "Why do you ask?"

Winn shrugs. "I don't know that much about you. I'm curious. And just walking here is really boring."

Having a conversation will be difficult, Querl knows. His focus is split in too many directions. Having a personal conversation while he's impaired like this might be a bad idea. Still, there's a chance that doing something will allow him to focus better, so Querl might as well try.

"I wanted to help people," he says. "To make up for what my ancestor did."

"Who, Indigo?"

Querl laughs hollowly. "No, a different ancestor. The first Brainiac was known as the Collector of Worlds. He was one of the worst menaces the galaxy ever faced."

Winn stares at him. "Wait, you mean Brainiac, like, the guy Superman fights sometimes?"

"The very same."

Winn's eyes are very wide. _Foolish,_ Querl berates himself. Why did he do that? Winn didn't know about Querl's family. He didn't judge Querl based on his relatives. Querl always wished for that in the thirty-first century, and now that he has it, he's promptly sabotaging himself. Typical.

"Okay," Winn finally says, "but even if your ancestor was a super evil bad guy, that doesn't mean that you're evil. You don't have to make up for it. It wasn't your fault."

Querl blinks. "There are many people who would not agree with that assessment."

"Screw them," Winn promptly replies. "You're not your family. You're not bad just because they're bad. You're your own person, and that means that _you_ get to decide who you're going to be."

"This sounds like a practiced speech."

Winn looks a little embarrassed. "It might be something that Kara told me when I was worrying about turning out like my dad. And I might have told it to Lena when she was worrying about turning out like her family. Trust me, we all know what it's like to come from a bad situation, but that doesn't mean you need to stay there."

It's not what most people would say, but even just hearing one person say it is something. "Thank you," Querl says quietly.

"No problem," Winn replies. "You're kind of a pain in the ass, and you can be a bit of a jerk, but you're not a bad guy, Brainy."

"My real name is Querl Dox," Querl offers. "My fellow Legionnaires all call me Brainy, and I don't mind it, but…"

"Which do you prefer?" Winn asks.

"Either is fine," Querl replies. Hardly anyone calls him Querl, except Mr. Brande, and Luornu sometimes. Sometimes he thinks he's more used to being called Brainy than his own name. And in a way, hearing the title of Brainiac changed into something so casual and nonthreatening is a relief, a way of separating himself from his ancestor. But at the same time…

"I can try to call you Querl," Winn offers. "I mean, I'll probably forget and call you Brainy a lot, but it's the thought that counts, right?"

"Either is fine," Querl repeats, but he has to admit, he does sort of like the idea of someone calling him by his real name.

"Cool," Winn says. "I'll try to remember to call you Querl, then."

Querl offers Winn a tight smile, then stumbles over nothing. "Whoa!" Winn says, grabbing him before he can fall. "Are you okay?"

"My coordination is improved by implants. It would seem they've failed."

"Jeez," Winn says, tentatively letting go of Querl and letting him walk again. "Is there any part of your body that _doesn't_ have implants?"

"Not really," Querl replies. "Normally, they allow me to perform at a level superior to most humans, but in this situation, I believe they're more of a hindrance than they're worth."

Winn snorts. "Yeah, I'd say so." He looks up at the skyline. "Look, we can probably take a break for the night soon. It's getting late, and we've been walking all day."

"We should look for shelter," Querl says, looking around. A corner of his mind starts to calculate the likelihood that they'll reach the settlement they saw before his body fails too much to keep going, but for once, Querl doesn't want to know the odds.

"Looks like there might be something over here," Winn says, heading towards an outcropping of rocks. Querl follows him, looking around for animal prints. They still haven't come across any signs of life. If they hadn't seen the settlement in the distance, Querl would wonder if there was life on this planet at all.

"Here we go," Winn says triumphantly. "One cave, just big enough for two."

The ceiling is too low for either of them to stand up straight, but the cave is large enough for two people. "Do you want to sleep closer to the wall again?" Querl asks.

"Sure," Winn replies. "Unless you want to?"

"I have no preference," Querl replies. He just wants to sleep. Hopefully, he'll be able to escape his own racing thoughts.

"Cool," Winn says, lying down. "Uh, goodnight, then."

"Goodnight," Querl says, lying down on his back and folding his hands over his stomach. He closes his eyes and wills his mind to slow. Normally, he's fairly good at falling asleep on command, and he's hoping that lasts now.

It does, and within a few moments, he's out. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Querl?"

The suns have already risen, and the angle of the light means it's shining directly into the cave. It woke Winn quickly, but it doesn't seem to be bothering Querl. Maybe it's another half-robot thing, Winn thinks, trying to ignore the part of his brain that suspects it might be something more serious.

"Querl?" he repeats, shaking Querl's shoulder. "Come on, time to get up."

Querl lets out a little groan as his eyes begin to open. Almost immediately, he rockets upright into a sitting position and his eyes fly all the way open, looking huge and panicked. Winn watches, his heart sinking, as Querl squeezes his eyes shut and opens them again, then rubs at them desperately.

"Hey, uh, Querl? You okay?"

"I can't see," Querl says, his voice hoarse and quiet. "I- I can't _see_ , Winn."

"You can't see?" Winn repeats dumbly.

"Coluan eyes have technological implants that improve vision in low light situations and increase distance vision," Querl says, his words getting quicker and quicker until they're almost spilling into each other. "It seems the technological systems are too closely intertwined with the organic ones, and thus the failure of one leads to the failure of the other. I- I didn't know, I wasn't expecting-"

"Look, it's okay," Winn says, reaching out to grip Querl's shoulder. Querl flinches away, and Winn lets go immediately. "Sorry. That was just me. My bad."

"Nothing about this situation is _okay_ ," Querl spits. "It would have been hard enough to come up with a way to signal for help with my ability to focus and my fine motor skills compromised, but I can't do it if I can't _see_. I am _useless_."

"Whoa! No you're not!" Winn cries. "Look, whatever we need to do to get a signal out, we'll do it together, okay? You'll be the brains, and I'll be the eyes and hands. It'll be okay."

Querl leans foreword, his hands tangling themselves in his hair. Winn can see the white of bone under the taut blue skin of his knuckles. "I'll slow you down," Querl finally says, his voice low. "You should go on without me."

"No way in hell," Winn promptly replies. "We're getting out of this together, Querl. Now come on, let's get moving." He reaches out, pauses, and then says, "I'm gonna take your hand now, okay? And I'll help you up. Remember, the ceiling's low, so don't get up all the way until I tell you to."

It takes a long moment, but finally Querl's fingers untangle themselves from his hair, and he holds one hand out towards Winn. "I am in your hands."

Carefully, they make their way out of the cave. Querl almost hits his head on the ceiling, but Winn manages to stop him just in time, which leads to Winn not paying attention to where he is and hitting _his_ head on the ceiling instead. Finally, though, they get out and stand in the bright morning sun.

Winn squints at the settlement in the distance. "Okay," he says. "This way, I guess."

"Which way?" Querl asks, his voice a little testy.

"Come on," Winn says, starting to walk and pulling Querl along gently. "I'll tell you if there's anything in front of you. Try not to trip."

Querl makes an irritated noise in the back of his throat, but he lets Winn pull him along. It's a little annoying for him to be getting back to his tetchy self so quickly, especially considering Winn is helping him a lot, but at least it's better than the depressed despondency back in the cave.

"Do you think we'll reach the settlement today?" Querl asks.

Winn frowns. "I don't know. Maybe. It's kinda hard to judge the distance when everything's so flat."

Querl huffs a little. For half a second, Winn wants to just let go of his hand and keep walking, but he shoves the thought aside just as quickly. Querl just woke up blind. Of course he's in a bad mood. Winn would be too. He still wishes Querl wouldn't take that bad mood out on _him_ , but it's not like there's a lot of other directions for it.

They walk in silence after that. Winn can feel Querl's hand trembling a bit in his own, but he doesn't mention it. Querl _does_ mention that Winn's hand is getting sweaty, but Winn doesn't let it bother him. He's just got to remember that, no matter how hard this is for him, it's even worse for Querl. He's got to cut him some slack.

Querl doesn't always make it the easiest thing to do, but Winn is trying.

* * *

"Okay," Winn says, "I need a break."

Querl stops when Winn does, standing helplessly and waiting for Winn to do something else. He'd rather keep moving, even though he's exhausted too, but he can't get far on his own. As little as he likes it, he's tied to Winn until ( _unless_ ) he gets his vision back.

"I think I see water that way, so I'm gonna go check it out real quick," Winn says. "I'll be back in a couple minutes, okay?"

"Alright," Querl says, even though he doesn't like the idea of being alone, not when he can't see, and _especially_ not when his force field belt is as useless as every other electronic on this planet. He's never been good at fighting, always too dependent on throwing up a force field to prevent anyone from touching him. Mon-El has told him off for it, but even if Querl _had_ put the time into training that Mon-El tried to get him to do, it wouldn't help him much when he's blind.

He can hear the crunching of the sand under Winn's feet, slowly fading as he walks further and further away. Without anything better to do, Querl sits crosslegged on the ground, steeples his fingers, and closes his eyes. It's a fairly useless gesture, but an automatic one when he needs to think.

Thinking is hard with his implants no longer working, but he's gotten more and more used to it. He can function a bit better now than he could yesterday. And whether it's easy or not, he needs to think. If he's not going to be able to create a workaround for his Legion ring himself - and he won't be able to do it with trembling hands and no vision - he needs to figure out a way for Winn to do it instead. It's not that he doesn't trust Winn, and it's not that he thinks he's stupid, but… Well, he's not a twelfth-level intellect, and his hands have the unfortunate human tendency to tremble a bit when doing actions that require a lot of fine motor control. And it'll be more difficult to explain what to do than it would be to just _do_ it. Querl needs to figure out the simplest way to get this done.

The best-case scenario would be that the settlement will have electronics that work despite the atmospheric disturbances. In that case, Querl can just tell Winn how to hook the ring up to whatever communication devices they have, and they'll boost the signal all the way to Mon-El and Imra. However, Querl doesn't want to depend on that. He wants to figure out how to create a device that will be able to get through the atmosphere and amplify the signal to get all the way to his fellow Legionnaires, and he wants to do it with the simplest materials possible.

He's got the ring, which is a powerful communicator in its own right, and he's got his omnicom, which probably has some parts that'll be helpful. They're not enough by themselves, though, so he'll need some other things. Some wire, probably, and an external power source. Hopefully, they'll have some sort of power source he can use, because inventing his own through Winn will be difficult.

"There is water!" Winn calls. Querl starts. He hadn't heard his footsteps. "Sorry," Winn says, sand crunching again as he walks up to Querl. "Didn't mean to startle you. But there is water nearby, so we can go get a quick drink. I'm gonna grab your arm now, okay? Just to help you up."

"Alright," Querl says, a bit tense as he waits for Winn to grab at him. He doesn't like being touched, but he doesn't have any other option. He can't navigate the desert by himself when he can't see.

Winn grabs Querl's arm gently, pulling him to his feet. "Okay," he says, taking Querl's hand instead. "It's maybe a five minute walk to the water, so let's go."

"What about the settlement?" Querl asks as they begin to walk. "Do you think we'll reach it today?"

"Probably," Winn replies. "I mean, the suns are pretty much straight up now, so I'm gonna call it noon. And judging by how far we've gotten so far this morning and how far it looks like we have to go, I think we'll probably get there by… late afternoon? Sometime around then. But this is just a guess."

"I hope you're right," Querl says. "I'd prefer to get off this planet sooner rather than later."

"Yeah, I bet," Winn replies. "Honestly, me too. I'm not a fan of alien planets. I prefer Earth."

"Earth is a nice planet," Querl says. "But I've been to many others that are equal or superior."

"Tell me about them," Winn requests. "We might as well talk about something for the rest of the walk."

"Do you have any preference for which planet I talk about?"

"What about your home planet?"

Querl wouldn't classify Colu as superior to Earth, and he's not even sure if he would classify it as equal, but he's also aware that part of that opinion is due to his own personal feelings about his home planet. "Very well," he says. "Colu is the home of the Coluans. The technology there is far superior to any other planet I've visited."

"Of course it is," Winn says, but he sounds more fond than exasperated. "Tell me more."

And Querl does.

* * *

"Brainy. Querl. _Querl_."

Querl starts, pulling away from Winn a little. Winn has to brace himself to make sure they don't both tip over too far and fall. Querl's been doing the same "thousand yard stare" thing that he kept doing yesterday, walking without seeming to see what's around him. Now, he literally _can't_ see what's around him, but there's still something about the blank look on his face that makes Winn think he's not focusing on his surroundings at all. The fact that he had to say his name three times to get a reaction is also a pretty good indication of that.

"Is something the matter?" Querl asks.

"Nothing's wrong," Winn says. "But we're almost at the settlement. I can see the edge of the town now."

"What does it look like?" Querl demands immediately.

"Uh, houses seem to be made of clay, mostly," Winn describes. "No wall or anything around it, it just kinda springs up out of nowhere. I can't see any of the people yet. And I don't see any wires or towers or anything that looks like technology."

"You wouldn't necessarily be able to see it from here," Querl replies. "And it may be that their technology doesn't work in a way that you would recognize."

"I mean, I guess." The town looks pretty low-tech to Winn, but it _is_ an alien planet. Like Querl said, he might just not recognize the tech that's there. That would make things a lot easier. If they can just send a message to the DEO through some weird alien communicator - meaning Winn doesn't have to make fancy adjustments to Querl's fancy Legion ring - that would be ideal.

"Tell me if you see anything more," Querl says. Winn chooses to view it as request, even if it sounds more like a demand. It makes him want to yell at Querl less.

As they get closer, Winn relays his observations to Querl. He still doesn't see anything that looks like technology, and all of the light sources that he can see are flickering like flames. He's not really all that confident that they're going to find any technology in the town, but Querl is remaining stubbornly optimistic.

"I see a person," Winn says excitedly when he catches the first glimpse of moment. "They look pretty humanoid from here. Very dark skin. Kinda short. I can't make out anything else yet."

Querl makes a tetchy little noise. "If my image inducer were working, I could disguise myself as one of them. I'm certain it would attract far less attention than two obvious aliens."

"If any tech were working, we'd have called for help already and we'd be off this rock," Winn retorts.

Querl doesn't say anything in response, which is the closest he ever gets to acknowledging that Winn's right. It's not a very big victory, but Winn appreciates it all the same.

There don't seem to be any guards around the town. At least, Winn hopes there aren't any guards, and it's not just that they're really good at hiding. He doesn't voice that thought to Querl. He doesn't _think_ there are any guards, though, since no one jumps out at them when they reach the edge of the town.

"Okay," Winn says. "I'm going to find someone to talk to about figuring out a way back to Earth. Let me do the talking, okay?"

"Very well," Querl says, sounding a little sulky.

It doesn't take long to come across a local. She looks mostly human, although her eyes completely dark, sclera included. Her skin is almost pure black. She doesn't seem to have any hair, but Winn's not sure if that's a genetic thing or a choice. She stares at Querl and Winn with wide eyes, which is probably fair. They definitely don't look like the others.

"Hey," Winn says, giving a little wave. "Uh, can you understand me? Do you speak English?"

"We speak all languages here," the woman says. "Don't you?"

"Uh, no, and that's super cool, actually," Winn says. "Look, we're from a different planet, and we need to figure out a way to get back home. Can you help us?"

The woman frowns a little. "You are not the only people from another planet who've landed here, but they never leave."

Winn wonders if he just tumbled headfirst into a horror movie. "Whoa, _what_?"

"They all seem to require something they call _technology_ ," the woman explains. "But we don't have that here, so they're never able to leave."

"You don't have any technology?" Winn says, his heart sinking. "But…"

"Do you have copper wire?" Querl asks, even though he agreed not to talk.

"Yes," the woman replies. "But why do you need it?"

"Do you have anything that could work as a power source?" Querl asks. "Any batteries?"

"I don't know what those are," the woman says.

"You have an idea?" Winn asks under his breath.

"I have many," Querl replies. "And a few of them might even work."

Winn looks at him for a moment, then nods. "Let's try one of those ones, then."

* * *

"Okay," Winn says, "walk me through that one more time?"

Querl presses his lips together and does his best not to show his irritation too much. "Open the back of the omnicom," he says. "You should be able to pry it open fairly easily. There's a seam along the top." He pauses for a moment, then says, "Have you found it?"

"Think so," Winn says. There's a moment of silence, then Querl hears the cracking pop that means the back panel has been removed. "Got it."

"There should be three chips in there. Do you see them?"

"Yeah."

"Take the one in the middle out. It should separate from the wires fairly easily."

"Okay." There's a moment of silence. "Got it. What do you want me to do with it?"

"Set it aside for now," Querl says. "Now, take the wires and entwine them with the copper wire that we borrowed."

"Okay." Querl can hear some soft rustling. "How exactly is this going to work?"

"The power source will power the omnicom," Querl says. "And then we can connect the omnicom to the Legion ring, which will allow us to transmit the message through the atmospheric disturbances. Assuming all goes well."

"And, uh, how much of an assumption is that?"

"Our odds are fairly good." They're over half, at least, which is the best that Querl thinks they're going to get in this situation.

"Cool," Winn says. "I connected the wires. What do I do now?"

"Connect the wires to the power source," Querl says. "If it's working properly, the omnicom should power on."

There's a few tense moments of silence, then… "It's working!"

Querl lets out a sigh of relief. "Now, for the Legion ring. I need you to very carefully take the front off. If you push down and twist it three hundred and sixty degrees to the left, it should pop off."

"I thought this was super valuable," Winn says, sounding a little worried.

"It is, so be careful."

"Okay." Silence, then, "It popped off!"

"Good," Querl says. "Now, there should be a length of wire coiled around a prong in there. Uncoil it, _carefully_."

"I'm gonna be careful," Winn mutters under his breath. After a moment, he adds, "Got it."

"Good," Querl says. "Take the wire and connect it to another piece of copper wire, then connect that to the same connection that you made before."

"Okay," Winn says. "Okay, okay, okay…"

"Is it done?"

"Almost, keep your hair on."

"Keep my _what_ on?"

"Earth saying, just shut up so I can finish."

Querl waits, tapping one finger absently against his leg. "Okay," Winn finally says, after what seems like a small eternity. "Got it. What do I do now?"

"Normally, you would turn the front of the ring, but since we've taken the top off, you need to carefully grip the edge around where the top used to be and turn it forty-five degrees to the right."

"Okay," Winn says, sounding a little worried. "Okay, I can do this."

Querl waits for a few moments, then Winn yelps. "It buzzed!"

"Good. That means the message went out."

"It went out?" Winn says, sounding shocked.

"Hopefully," Querl says. "I can't be certain that it went past the atmosphere, but if all went well, then yes, the message went out."

"Awesome," Winn says. " _Awesome_. So if it worked, then the rest of the Legion will come get us soon?"

"Hopefully," Querl repeats. "The sooner they come, the better."

"Yeah, definitely," Winn agrees.

"There is something I should probably tell you," Querl says after a moment. "It is likely that more of my faculties will fail overnight. There is a chance that I will not be able to wake up tomorrow morning."

"Wait, _what_?" Winn sounds distinctly panicked. "You're going to die?"

"I am unlikely to die tonight," Querl says. "I expect that will not occur until late tomorrow at the earliest."

"Okay, you should _definitely_ have said something about that before," Winn says. "You might not wake up tomorrow?"

"It is a possibility," Querl replies. "It depends on how many faculties fail tonight."

"So if the Legion doesn't show up by tomorrow, you're probably going to die here?"

"It is… not unlikely."

"Is there any way to check if the ring sent out a real signal?"

"I do not believe so."

"So we just need to wait?"

"Yes."

There's a pause for a moment. "If I were going to sent out another message a different way, in case this way didn't work, what would you tell me to do?"

"We should give this a chance," Querl counters.

"Yeah, but if you're not up tomorrow to tell me what to do, then I'll need to figure it out myself."

It's a fair point. "Do you have any way to write this down?"

There's the sound of paper rustling, then, "Okay, hit me."

"I assume that means I should begin to explain?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Very well. Be ready to write."

* * *

Querl isn't waking up.

Winn woke up a while ago, when the light from the suns streamed in through the window and lit up the whole room they're staying in. But Querl isn't waking up, no matter how much Winn calls his name and shakes him.

Querl warned him that he might not, but for some stupid reason, Winn didn't think it would be this scary. He was very wrong.

"Damn it, Brainy," Winn hisses. "You don't get to actually make me start _liking_ you and then immediately die. That's not fair."

There is, unsurprisingly, no response.

Winn is just wondering if he should disassemble the omnicom and Legion ring again to try to send out another message when he hears a commotion outside. He runs over to a window immediately, sticking his head out of it, and sees the most beautiful sight.

Kara has just landed in the village square.

"Kara!" Winn yells. "Kara! Up here!"

Kara looks up at Winn and her face lights up. She must start running, but it's too fast for Winn to see, and a moment later she's in front of him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Winn, you're okay!"

"Can't breathe!"

"Oh, right." Kara lets go of Winn, but she doesn't go far. "What happened? We were so worried about you!"

"Brainy and I just- Oh my God, Brainy."

Kara looks at Winn in confusion, then her gaze flickers to Querl, deathly still on the bed. "Is something wrong with Brainy?"

"You can get us out of here, right?" Winn asks. "Like, off this planet?"

"The Legion ship is in orbit," Kara says. "We're here to bring you home. Winn, what's wrong with Brainy?"

"You need to bring him up to the ship right now," Winn says. "This planet does something to technology, and he's half robot, so…"

"Oh my God," Kara breathes. "Is he okay?"

"I think he should be once he gets out of here," Winn says. "But you need to get him out of here as fast as possible."

Kara goes over to the bed, gathers Brainy up in her arms, and looks over at Winn. "I'll be back for you once Brainy's on the ship."

"Just get him there fast," Winn says.

Kara nods, then she carries Brainy outside and takes off. There's immediate gasps and muttering as she flies into the air, but Winn just watches her silently, hoping that Brainy will be okay.

"Winn?" Laisha, one of the aliens, asks as she comes up into the room. "Who was that?"

"That was my friend Kara," Winn says. "She's here to bring us home."

"You were able to contact your friend!" Laisha says, her face lighting up.

"We were," Winn says. "Thanks so much for your help, by the way. And thanks for letting us stay here."

"I was glad to help," Laisha says. "Perhaps we will see you again!"

"Yeah, maybe," Winn says, even though he thinks the chances are _very_ slim. Objectively speaking, this planet isn't _that_ bad, but he doesn't think he'll ever be able to think about it without thinking about what it did to Querl. _He_ definitely won't be coming back any time soon.

It takes a few minutes, but finally, Kara returns. "Here," she tells Winn, holding out one of the Legion rings. "Put this on."

"They don't work here," Winn says, frowning down at it. "The atmosphere prevents technology from working."

"Yeah, but it'll start working again once we get past the lower atmosphere, and that's when you're going to need it," Kara says. "It'll make it so you can breathe in space."

"These things are _so cool_ ," Winn says, sliding the ring onto his finger. "Can I keep it?"

Kara laughs a little. "It's Imra's, so no, I'm pretty sure she wants it back."

"Damn it," Winn groans.

"Up, up, and away?" Kara asks, reaching out towards Winn.

"Please. I am so ready to get out of here."

Kara picks Winn up in one quick movement. He throws his arms around her neck instinctually, which seems to amuse her a little bit, then she takes off.

"How's Brainy?" Winn asks.

"Mon-El and Imra are taking care of him," Kara says. "They said they think he'll be okay."

That's a little less reassuring than Winn would like, but at least it's positive. "Any idea how we ended up here?" Winn asks.

"Some tech-savvy alien sent you and Brainy away because he thought you were the only ones who could beat him," Kara says. "But we got Lena to help out, and it turns out Brainy's taught Imra and Mon-El some tech stuff, so we were okay. We defeated him yesterday, actually. J'onn was trying to get into his mind to figure out where he sent you and Brainy when Mon-El and Imra got the distress call on their rings. How'd you do that, by the way? I thought you said no tech worked on the planet?"

"Brainy did it," Winn says. "Honestly, ask him, I'm still not sure how it worked."

"I'll ask him when he's up," Kara says.

The Legion ring kicks in once they reach the upper part of the atmosphere, letting Winn breathe normally even as they break through the atmosphere entirely and float in space. It also lets Kara keep flying until they land in the Legion ship's cargo bay.

"Where's Brainy?" Winn demands immediately.

"Come with me," Kara says, leading him to the same room that Winn remembers Kara being in before she came out of her coma. Instead of her on the table, though, it's Querl, an oxygen tube under his nose and an IV in his arm.

"Winn," Mon-El says when he sees him, looking relieved. "Thank Rao you're okay."

"Thanks for the pick-up," Winn says. "Uh, is Brainy gonna be okay?"

"He should be," Imra says. She's sitting next to Brainy with what looks like a laptop in her lap. "All of his functions are coming back online, although some are a bit slow. I might be able to speed them up a bit, but this really isn't my area of expertise." She sighs. "I wish we had Dr. Gym'll here, or Lyle. They'd know what to do."

"I don't know who either of those people are, but I know a bit about Coluan systems," Winn offers. "I could take a look, maybe."

"Be my guest," Imra says, gesturing at her laptop. "And thank you for taking care of him. I know he's not always the easiest person to deal with, especially when he's not well."

"He's not that bad," Winn replies. "But don't tell him I said that."

Imra laughs. "I won't, I promise."

* * *

When Querl opens his eyes, he can see.

It takes his brain a moment longer than usual to figure out where he is, but he barely even has the chance to wonder before he realizes he's on the Legion ship. If he's correct - and he usually is - he's in the medical bay.

It takes another moment for him to realize what that means.

"Whoa, Querl, don't try to get up," Winn says when Querl attempts to sit. "You're still not at one hundred percent yet."

"Winn," Querl says, his voice hoarse. "The Legion came."

"Yup," Winn replies. "Mon-El, Imra, and Kara came to get us. We're heading back to Earth now. We're getting pretty close. I think Mon-El and Imra said they're preparing for descent."

"I have no memory of being brought onboard the ship, so I assume you could not wake me," Querl says.

"And it was terrifying," Winn replies. "Don't do that again."

"I do not intend to."

"Imra and I have been trying to help your internal systems turn themselves back on, but she said you should do a self-diagnostic when you woke up," Winn adds. "Uh, can you do that?"

It's a good idea. Querl closes his eyes and runs the most in-depth self-diagnostic he can. "My internal systems are all functioning within acceptable parameters, although some are functioning less than usual," he says. "If the problem persists, I may take action, but I believe it might resolve itself."

"Cool," Winn says. "Oh, right, I was supposed to give you water when you woke up. Here." He awkwardly maneuvers a straw into Querl's mouth and lets him suck down a glass of water. It feels beautifully soothing against his dry throat.

"Thank you," Querl says. Then, because he's a little confused and that's not a sensation he enjoys, he adds, "Have you been waiting for me to wake up?"

"Yup," Winn replies. "The others have been in and out too, but Mon-El and Imra need to pilot the ship and I think Kara's talking with the DEO right now."

"Why did you wait?" Querl asks.

Winn frowns. "Cause you were in pretty bad shape, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. Imra said you should be able to fix yourself, but I wanted to be sure."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why?" Winn asks. "Cause I care about you, you idiot."

Querl ignores the insult and frowns at Winn. "You do?"

"Dude, you're my friend."

"I am?"

"Dude!" Winn cries. "Why did you think I helped you on the desert planet?"

"I assumed it was because you, like Kara and the Legion, adhere to a certain moral code that would not allow you to do otherwise," Querl replies honestly.

"I mean, yeah," Winn says, "but also cause we're friends. At least, I thought we were."

"I thought you disliked me."

"I mean, you can be obnoxious, but I don't _dislike_ you. Although sometimes you make it kinda hard to like you."

Querl feels himself smile a little bit. "I believe the rest of the Legionnaires have all said the same."

"Yeah, but they're still your friends," Winn says. "At least, Mon-El and Imra seem to be, and I'm assuming the rest are too."

"I consider them friends, yes."

"Well, you can consider me a friend too," Winn says. "Okay?"

Querl feels his smile widen. "Okay."


End file.
